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There's another aspect of excitement in the world of thrill rides. There's the excitement of the latest announcements of upcoming rides from an industry as secretive as the military at times, and the excitement of all the latest happenings at parks around the world. Sometimes the news is good, sometimes the news is bad, but our aim is to bring you the fairest, timeliest, most accurate details on everything that concerns you. COASTER-net's team of journalists is hard at work around the clock to bring you the in-depth scoop!
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Hard Rock Park to auction first ride
Other prizes included in package
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The first ride on the Led Zeppelin roller coaster at the new Hard Rock Park is being auctioned off.
15 people will be selected to ride on the Zeppelin thrill ride on April 15. Also, according Kerry Graves, vice president of sales and marketing for the park, winners will ride with Goodwin before the park opens to the public and will receive a commemorative photo, certificate, daily admission and posters autographed by Led Zeppelin.
The bid started at 99 cents on the March 31. The auctioning will stop at 9 p.m. on April 7. All proceeds will go to charity.
Winners will be treated to a roller coaster that is 155 feet tall, has six inversions, reaches a top speed of 64.3 miles per hour, and stretches 3,738 feet in length.
The 40-million-dollar park will be open to the general public on May 9.
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Geauga Lake's wooden coasters may be auctioned off
Park will be exclusively a water park starting this season
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© James Dreager
Going Once, Going Twice: The Villain, seen here under construction in 2000, joins Geauga Lake's other two wooden coasters on the auction block. |
The owner of Geauga Lake, the now-closed amusement park located in Aurora, Ohio, is planning to sell three wooden coasters at auction - the Big Dipper, Villain and Raging Wolf Bobs, if they are not sold by June. Cedar Fair, the owner of Geauga Lake decided in November that the historic park would become exclusively a water park starting in 2008, and the ride side would be sold off.
The roller coasters have been on the market since November of last year. Martin & Vleminckx Rides, a ride broker based in Orlando, Florida, has been unsuccessful in finding buyers for the rides.
"It's one of those things where you have to find the right customer at the right time with the right location and spot that the ride will fit in. It's not easy to come up with a solution like that. It's very possible even at auction they may not sell." Chuck Bingham of M&V said recently.
Bingham also stated that the brokerage company will auction off the coasters in hopes that ride collectors will be looking for a good deal.
Norton Auctioneers of Coldwater, Michigan will be auctioning off all unsold rides at Geauga Lake on the 17th and 18th of June.
Several rides have already been removed. X-Flight and Steel Venom were dismantled after the 2006 season. X-Flight opened at Kings Island in 2007 as Firehawk, and Steel Venom will open at Dorney Park in 2008 as Voodoo. Dominator and Thunderhawk were removed following the 2007 season and will open this year at Kings Dominion and Michigan's Adventure, respectively.
Operating under a modified name, Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom will open for the season this coming May.
Donald Flint contributed to this article
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Universal Studios Florida to redefine skyline with ‘Rockit’
Park’s first major outdoor steel coaster announced for 2009
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Universal Studios Florida, Universal Orlando Resort, Orlando, FL, USA 03/19/08 - By: Devin Olson -
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© Universal Orlando
Ready to Rock for 2009: ‘Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit’ will alter a skyline currently consisting of almost nothing but “studio” buildings housing shows and rides. |
It was just four years ago that Universal Studios Florida introduced a major roller coaster to the top tourist destination, but now the Orlando park’s skyline is about to go through a radical transformation for the first time.
Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit was revealed today as the park’s new star coaster, and indeed, this ride is far different from anything the park’s seen before.
Rising nearly 17 stories into the currently flat skyline that defines the older half of the Universal Orlando Resort complex, the Rockit will represent the dawn of the third coaster generation for a park that opened in 1990 and went its first nine years without anything resembling a roller coaster. In 1999, Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster was installed at 27 feet tall and nearly 22 m.p.h., but it wouldn’t be until 2004 that the studios would add a coaster geared for the thrill-seekers, the heavily-themed, indoor Revenge of the Mummy.
Rip, Ride, Rockit will be an “X-Car” model from the German designer Maurer Söhne –– a concept that first took off in 2004 at Skyline Park, a local German theme park. The idea behind the “X-Car” is a minimalistic, tiered ride vehicle with lap restraints only that can lift vertically into the sky before plunging into a ride capable of anything a bowl of spaghetti is.
Rip-Riding Facts:
- Height: 167’ / 50.9 m
- Speed: 65 m.p.h. / 104.6 kph
- Passengers: 2-abreast, 16 per train
- Location: Between Jimmy Neutron & Blue Man Group buildings, over CityWalk
- Special features: Onboard audio, video systems; color-changing LED lighting
- Manufacturer: Maurer Söhne
- Debut: Spring 2009
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Universal’s own ride will be the second from Maurer Söhne in the United States, the first being the X-Coaster at Magic Springs & Crystal Falls in Arkansas. This ride, however, will feature its own custom layout.
In the artwork, an exaggerated layout probably much like the final product will look is pictured, complete with a nearly-vertical lift hill, vertical drop, heavily-banked cross-under of the lift reminiscent of Maverick at Ohio’s Cedar Point, and an experimental non-inverting loop with a twist going up and twist going down.
Universal Studios’ creative designers are finding room for the coaster by threading its track between the Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast building and Blue Man Group Theater, then extending a portion of it over the park entrance and adjacent CityWalk district that joins the Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure halves of the Universal Orlando Resort.
Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit’s 2009 debut will coincide with the opening of a new themed section at Islands of Adventure based on the Harry Potter books and movies: the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
The park will be advertising the technological side of the attraction along with the thrill factor: video screens in the queue, LED lighting for the structure, customized audio for each experience, and on-ride videos sent to the internet.
Universal is hoping that all factors will combine to produce a crowd-drawing thrill-ride that will more than stand out in the highly-competitive Orlando theme park market.
Look for an in-depth preview of the ride in COASTER-net's Ride Gallery later today!
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Nickelodeon Universe opens at Mall of America
Pre-existing park unveiled after extreme makeover
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© Clint Novak
A Fairly Odd Park: Formerly known as 'Timberland Twister,' the park's spinning coaster now operates under the name 'Fairly Odd Coaster,' referencing a Nickelodeon show. |
Nickelodeon Universe has opened today at the Mall of America after months of work to convert the park from its former state in a project that may seem like more of a re-opening than grand debut.
The major changes to the park, formerly known as Knott's Camp Snoopy, Camp Snoopy and the Park at MOA, are changes in the names and themes of the rides as well as the addition of two new coasters.
The first roller coaster to have its named changed is the Pepsi Ripsaw, which opened in 1992, and is now being called the Orange Streak. Second is 2004's Timberland Twister, now known as the Fairly Odd Coaster (based on the Nickelodeon Show The Fairly Odd Parents).
The third roller coaster with a name change is the Lil Shaver. This roller coaster is now being called the Barnyard Barnstormer, from the show Back at the Baryard.
Then, there are the two new coasters. These coasters are the SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge and the Avatar Airbender.
Nickelodeon Universe is part of the Phase II section of the mall. Phase II is a fairly new part of the mall built in 2004. This area contains various sorts of entertainment including a dinner theater, an ice rink, three hotels, and a water park.
Although Phase II is still in the process of being built, Nickelodeon Universe and the other various forms of entertainment are available to the public.
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Busch Gardens Europe sets eyes on expansion
Planning division views plans for possible new country
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Busch Gardens Europe, Williamsburg, VA, USA 03/04/08 - By: Devin Olson -
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© Ben Kuznicki
A Blast of a Past: Festa Italia, Italy was the last themed country at Busch Gardens’ Williamsburg location to be built from scratch. It opened in 1987. |
The “World’s Most Beautiful Theme Park” is on track to get even more beautiful.
Williamsburg, Virginia’s Busch Gardens Europe is seeking permission from the local James City County Planning Division for new buildings, attractions, and theming – all the components of a new themed section, although no official word on the planned expansion has been released.
The Daily Press reports that the plans include five new buildings, but no structures over 60 feet tall. The paper adds that the county has requested particulars on the buildings’ dimensions.
Timeline with a Theme:
- 1975 – Park opens with Banbury Cross and Hastings, England; Aquitaine, France and New France; Rhinefeld, Germany; and Heatherdowns, Scotland
- 1976 – Oktoberfest addition doubles Germany's size
- 1980 – San Marco, Italy debuts
- 1987 – Italy doubles in size with Festa Italia
- 2001 – Killarney, Ireland takes over Hastings, England
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Busch Gardens Europe is divided into six sections themed to European countries and set in the 17th century. The proposal could be an expansion to a current land or a new one entirely.
If the expansion transforms into a new country, it would be the first added to the park since 2001 when the park transformed one of its two English-themed sections into Ireland. However, the first entirely new country added to the Williamsburg park opened five years after the park in 1980: Italy.
We'll keep you up to date on the latest word from the park.
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